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Steve Jobs: iPad Won't Support iPhone Tethering

Not one to mince words, Steve Jobs squashed all hope of the iPad supporting iPhone tethering for wireless Internet access with one word — "No."

The succinct answer was communicated by Jobs via e-mail (from his iPhone) to Jezper Söderlund of Sweden who e-mailed Jobs to ask, "Will the wifi-only version somehow support tethering thru my iPhone?"

9to5Mac has both e-mails in question, along with e-mail header information, and all indications point to the one word buzzkill response being legit. You can read the text of the e-mail inquiry and Jobs's response below:

Söderlund's e-mail:

"I'll keep it short.

I'm Jezper from Sweden, a long time Apple fan, currently about to replace the very last computer at home with a brand spanking new iMac i7. I'm also awaiting the release of the iPad. However, I have one question:

Two devices, based on the same OS, with already built-in technology to share one data plan suggests a secondary contract could possibly be redundant.

From the look of your keynote, where the iPad sits well between my MacBook Pro and my iPhone, I was hoping the three of them could interact as seamless as possible.

All the best,Jezper Söderlund[a famous DJ in his own right]"

Jobs' response:

"No.

Sent from my iPhone"

The bottom line is that those of you who were hoping to buy the cheaper Wi-Fi version of the iPad and tether your iPhone for 3G Internet access (and avoid the additional 3G hardware costs and AT&T subscription plan) are out of luck.

From a consumer perspective, the news is quite disappointing. One would hope that the costly iPhone data plan would be applicable to the iPad. The idea of paying a per device monthly wireless Internet fee is one that won't sit well with most consumers. The decision doesn't exactly come as a surprise, though. We already know that AT&T is facing network challenges, which they blame on heavy iPhone users, so it wouldn't make sense for them to encourage or support additional bandwidth without additional fees.

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